t of the battalion, and appointed
lieutenant-governor of the new settlement; a surgeon and three
assistants were also embarked in the transports, with medicines
and necessaries for the people under their care. The wind being
easterly, we ran out at the Needles, and were accompanied by his
Majesty's ship Hyena, Captain De Coursey, who had received orders
from the Admiralty to see us 100 leagues to the westward.

We had light breezes with fair and pleasant weather down the
channel, but had the mortification to find that two of our
transports sailed exceedingly bad; one of which, the Hyena towed
two or three days. On the 15th, at sun-set, the Start Point bore
north-east half east by compass, distant seven or eight leagues:
at noon on this day (which finishes the nautical and begins the
astronomical day) the longitude, by account, was 5 deg.. 01'.
west of the meridian of Greenwich, and by a timepiece made by Mr.
Kendal, with which the Board of Longitude had supplied us, it was
4 deg.. 59'. west; we had a variety of weather from this time
till the 21st. when being in latitude 47 deg.. 52'. north, and
longitude 12 deg.. 14'. west, Captain Phillip put his dispatches
on board the Hyena; she saluted us with three cheers, and we
parted company; the wind was now, and had been for some days
before, in the south-west quarter, with hazy weather, our
progress to the southward was therefore but slow; much attention
was required on our part to the rate of sailing of the different
transports, in order to prevent separation.

At this time a report was made from one of the transports,
both by the commanding marine officer on board, and the master of
the ship, that a discovery had been made of an intended
insurrection amongst the convicts in that ship; in which, if they
had succeeded, they were to have quitted the fleet in the night,
and afterwards to have made such use of the ship, as they should,
upon farther consideration of the matter, determine amongst
themselves. Captain Phillip had very humanely, a few days
previous to this scheme, directed that the irons with which most
of the male convicts had hitherto been confined, should be taken
off them generally, that they might have it more in their power
to strip their cloaths off at night when they went to rest, be
also more at their ease during the day, and have the farther
advantage of being able to wash and keep themselves clean; this
indulgence had no doubt left it more in the powe